PonyZ Radio Zed
by synthesistheory
Summary: When Equestria went to war with the Griffons of the USSG, the forces fought each other to a stalemate. That was half a year ago. General Steele, of the Equestrian Military, ordered Captain Dusk Shine and his squad to respond to a silent radio from the garrison at Electrozadvosk. Little did they know what they were getting into...
1. Chapter 1

A UH-60 Huey helicopter flew at a breakneck speed over Electro, a full squad of Equestrian 3rd Ranger Division rifleponies sitting in the back. One of them was a purple unicorn with a darker purple mane and tail, both accentuated by a single magenta streak. He was Command Sergeant Major Dusk Shine, and he was currently polishing the Colt .45 M1911 in his hand. The Colt .45 ACP MEU was standard issue, courtesy of the Colt brothers, and had a faster rate of fire along with a larger magazine, but Dusk preferred the older 1911's higher accuracy. Lifting his gaze up to the gunner position, he saw his friend Corporal Rainbow Blitz, a sky-blue pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail, manning the M60E4 machine gun. Blitz was Dusk's pointpony, arming himself with a Trotington R870 pump-action shotgun. Casting his eyes about the rest of the vehicle, he saw the rest of his squad mates and close friends engaged in various activities; wielding the opposite side's M60 was Applejack, a rather large, orange-coated earth stallion with short blonde hair. Butterscotch, their corpsman, was a small, timid-looking pegasus, and had a yellow coat with a pink mane and tail. He sat further in the back of the chopper, bandaging the arm of Elusive, a pure white unicorn whose deep violet hair was in a rather frilly set of curls for a stallion. He had taken an SVD bullet during an engagement in Novy Sobor. Their team's explosives expert, Bubble Berry, was an earth pony, and pink all over. His chaotic mane and tail were so messy they resembled cotton candy, and his personality matched perfectly. He was watching his fragmentation grenades intently… Dusk worried about Bubble sometimes.  
Returning his attention to his sidearm, Dusk jumped when a muted crack rang out and the helicopter suddenly lurched. Walking briskly into the cockpit, Dusk yelled over the thunderous din of the helicopter, "What just hit us!"  
The pilot, Thunderlane, was wrestling with the controls. "I don't know! It sounded like some kind of sniper-!" There was another crack and his head turned into red mist. Dusk ducked out of reflex.  
"…Oh BUCK! EVERYONE, WE NEED TO BAIL NOW!" he called back. Too late, as the helicopter spun out of control and quickly met the ground, too quickly for even the supersonic Rainbow Blitz to react. The centripetal force threw Dusk from the chopper just before the crash, sending him sliding along the ground. He groaned and passed out as a shadow passed over his vision.

PonyZ: Radio Zed  
Chapter 1: Day Z

Dusk Shine jolted awake, coming up to a sitting position with his pistol at the ready, franticly scanning the area; he was lying near a small campfire, in an open area. He also saw that the rest of his squad were present and miraculously unharmed, though unconscious.  
"Calm down, Sergeant Major." a male voice said, causing Dusk to immediately aim in the direction of its origin. A ghillied-up pony sat nearby, stoking the fire. "No one's going to shoot you." the stranger assured. Aware that he wouldn't still be alive if the pony had meant any harm, but still weary of his intentions, Dusk slowly holstered his pistol.  
"Where are we?" he asked the stranger.  
"We're about… twelve kilometers northeast of Electro." came the response, after a quick glance at a map.  
Dusk simply nodded and nudged Blitz. "So who are you?" he asked as he tried to rouse the pegasus. Stupid Blitz wouldn't wake up. Likely dreaming about that fighter ace, Spitfire. Idiot was really reaching out of his league on that one.  
"The name's Hawkeye Archer, Gunnery Sergeant in B Company. I was the sniper in a sniper-spotter team."  
Dusk nodded again, repeatedly slapping the corporal's face. "I'm Dusk Shine. My squad was the attaché from the 3rd Rangers. Come on, get up you lazy sack of feathers." he ordered at the inert Rainbow Blitz, who seemed adamant in staying in heaven with Spitfire.  
"Nice to meet you sir." Hawk got up and walked over to Blitz, taking out his M24 sniper rifle, and promptly whacked him in the head with the stock.  
Blitz leapt up to his feet and put his hands to his head in pain. "Ow, Ow, OW, WHAT THE-" Dusk cut him off with a hand over his mouth.  
"Will you shut up, Blitz?!" Dusk hissed. "The dragonbait that shot us down could still be around." Blitz nodded, still with a furious headache, and Dusk tossed him his Trotington. "Now wake up the others. I need to figure out what we're going to do next."  
Blitz saluted him and started nudging Butterscotch gently. "Pst… Butterscotch… Wake up man…"  
Dusk walked a ways, grabbing the map Hawkeye had used, searching for ideal places to go to. Their position was marked with a red X, near the towns of Electro and, further to the east, Cherno. Hawk walked over to Dusk's side and peered at the map.  
"Any ideas of where to go, sir?"  
"I think so… Priority one is getting some supplies… And then we need a reliable shelter…" Of course, they had very few options, but he took the time to study his mysterious companion out of the corner of his eye. It didn't take long; even looking this closely at Hawkeye, the leafy suit he wore covered everything; even his eyes were covered by a hood he wore. Dusk could only tell he was male from his voice, and had no idea what species he was. Deciding that now wasn't the best time to wonder about Hawkeye's appearance, he quickly plotted the course in his mind and, satisfied, rolled up the map. He started back towards the group with the camouflaged sniper in tow.  
"Guys," Dusk began, "this is Gunnery Sergeant Archer. He's a sniper for B-Coy."  
Applejack shook his hand. "Nice ta meet ya sir. Didja happen ta see the dragonbait that shot down our helo?"  
Hawk shook his head. "Sorry corporal, no such luck. I just heard the gunshots and saw you guys crash. It sounded like an AS50."  
"What's the plan, Dusk?" Blitz asked, eager to move out. Dusk gathered everypony and spread the map in the air, now enveloped with a purple aura.  
"The closest town to our position is Electro. We'll be heading there first to get guns, ammo, food, etcetera." He pointed with a finger to trace their path. "Then we'll move down to Cherno and find some shelter. Assess the situation, see what we can see. There's a military base at Stary, not too far from there. That's our final destination. Currently, we're twelve klicks northeast of Electro, so we'll start in the morning." He folded up the map and placed it in his bag. "Right now, everypony get some sleep. We'll set up watch in standard order, rotate every hour. Blitz, that means you're up first." Rainbow nodded solemnly and flicked his shotgun off safety.

The next day, the seven soldiers started their hike through the forest towards Electro, Hawkeye in the back with his sniper rifle, and Blitz in the lead with his shotgun. As they came out of the treeline and reached the main road, something in the blue pegasus's peripheral vision caught his eye. He held up a clenched hand as he crouched down and his head swiveled left, away from Electro. It was smooth land, and though the object that caught his attention was a mile away, he could easily discern the sight of a vehicle coming.  
"Truck coming," he alerted, "get down." The group quickly dropped down and laid prone in the trees, the sound of the truck soon reaching their pricked ears. The Ural truck rumbled by, and the ponies saw that it was being driven by two griffons.  
'Great. Looks like the griffons might already be onto us.' Dusk thought. He and his team had hoped they wouldn't be seeing any enemy contact this early in their trek. Their position was bad enough without those beakheads knowing where they were. "Nice catch, Blitz." he congratulated, still on the ground. "Another few seconds and they might have seen us."  
"So what?" Blitz countered, ever the tough guy. "It was just two of 'em. I could take two griffons in my sleep, even if you guys aren't backing me up. We should've just shot them."  
"Don't you think the situation is precarious enough as it is without unnecessary firefights?" Elusive interjected.  
"T'ain't smart to go pickin' fights like this. We don't know much, an' we have even less." Applejack added.  
"Applejack's right. We have no idea what we're up against, or who would hear us if we made a commotion. And we are not equipped to find out." Dusk said.  
"Oh, come on you pansies!" Blitz said exasperatedly. "It's just two griffons! There are seven of us, we wouldn't make any noise. And, even if we did, we'd have two captives and that shiny new truck to drive around in. What could go wrong?"  
Suddenly, there was a sound like thunder that was becoming all too familiar and the truck's engine block exploded, destroying it and cooking the griffons inside with the resulting explosion. The noise caused everyone to cringe and flatten their ears against their skulls. When the echo faded, they raised their heads once more, gazing at the wreckage.  
"What in Tartarus was that?" a dumbfounded Hawkeye asked.  
Dusk Shine shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't plan on bucking finding out. Not even an AS50 can destroy a Ural in one shot."  
"It wasn't even explosive ammo." Bubble Berry chimed in. Everyone immediately gave him blank stares. "Believe me, I know explosive ammo, and that wasn't it. See, it makes this weird kind of double boom, like b-boom! And this boom was just a regular boom kind of boom." Hawkeye continued to stare, whilst everyone else turned to Dusk, having already known Bubble for many years.  
"Either way," Dusk said, changing the subject, "I think it's clear we should stay off the main road and sneak into town at night." Everyone hastily nodded their agreement, and they began marching, staying well inside the treelike.  
"'And we'd have a shiny new truck to drive around in.' Got any more bright ideas, featherbrain?" Applejack asked. Rainbow Blitz chuckled weakly.  
"Maybe we should just avoid any commotion until we know what we're up against."

As it got dark, the squad snuck quietly out of the thinning forest and into the town, each of them thanking Luna that there was no moon to reveal them. The town was abandoned; unsurprising, seeing as how a war was being waged in the region. The first building they came across was a hospital, from which they thankfully managed to find some basic medical supplies and food items. They were about to enter a gunshop when a groan from behind caught their attention. They turned around, weapons at the ready, and saw… a pony. What caught them off guard though, was how he moved. He walked toward them at a medium pace, apparently oblivious to everything around him. His brown coat was plastered with dirt and grime, and his yellow mane and tail were an absolute mess. They all lowered their weapons and looked at each other, confused expressions plastered on their faces. All but Hawkeye, who warily kept a tight grip on his M24.  
'What in Equestria is that pony doing here?' Dusk asked himself. 'He isn't armed or in uniform, so it must be a civilian. They should all be cleared out.'  
"Any thoughts, sir?" Applejack asked his CO.  
"It's a civie, no doubt about it."  
"Someone too stubborn to leave their home?" Elusive suggested.  
"Let's find out. Hey! You there! What are you doing here?" Dusk shouted at the pony. It didn't respond. "All civilians are supposed to be evacuated." Again, it gave no response, save for letting out another groan. 'Something doesn't feel right.' He slowly brought his pistol up and pulled down the hammer. The pony continued coming closer. "Alright, that's far enough." The mystery pony was now close enough for Dusk to smell the bloodstains that covered him. "I said stop! Stop, or I will fire on you!" He gave no heed to the warning. Dusk tilted his pistol downward and fired, hitting the pony's leg. For an instant, time almost seemed to stand still as the pony, instead of falling over or clutching it's leg, stood ramrod straight. Baffled by the odd behavior, Dusk hesitated when the pony suddenly began charging him.  
Rainbow Blitz saw all of this almost in slow motion, brought his Trotington up to its firing position, and pulled the trigger. The countless tiny pellets released from the shell tore through the pony's head, stopping it in his tracks and dropping it flat on it's stomach.  
"Dear Celestia!"  
"Oh my…"  
"Woah, the buck was that, Blitz!?"  
"He was going for Dusk, I…"  
Dusk Shine himself was stunned into silence, trying to process what just happened.  
Hawkeye walked over and examined the body, using his boots to flip it on it's back, revealing a bloody torso and, more importantly, bite marks all over the body. "That's what I thought." he mumbled to himself. He looked up at the rest of the squabbling group. "Blitz did fine, everyone." They stopped and looked at him. "Nice draw too. Fastest I've ever seen."  
"What do you mean by that, Hawkeye?" Dusk asked.  
"Sir, these things aren't ponies anymore."  
"Anymore?" he asked incredulously. "As in they've become something else?" He looked at the corpse, then back to Hawk. "He looks like a pony to me."  
"He was already dead, Blitz just killed him a second time." The sniper lowered his head at the memory that was surfacing. 'It seems like just yesterday…' "About a day after we took Chenarus, dead ponies and griffons started to show up. At first, we thought it was a good thing, but… then when Private Skies tried to talk to a couple up close… She… She…" Hawk shook his head and pulled back his hood, showing the others his face for the first time: his grey fur, his black mane, and especially his steely grey eyes. "They tore her apart sir. Those things are monsters, not griffons and definitely not ponies."  
In those eyes, Dusk saw several things: anger and hatred for the monstrous corpses that had been reanimated. The cold and calculating gaze of a trained marine sniper, so detached from his enemies that he could drop them without remorse from a mile away. Finally, Dusk saw a great juxtaposition with the shell of coldness that the marine had erected: despair, as if he had lost someone, and the death had hit very close to home.  
"Hawkeye, who was Private Skies?"  
He reached into the suit and produced a pair of dog tags from one of his shirt pockets and handed them to Dusk, who took them gingerly. "Pvt. Cloudy Skies," he read aloud for the group to hear, "Equestrian Marines; B-Company, Scout-Sniper…" he trailed off. His eyes shot up to Hawk, who silently nodded. "Sweet Celestia, gunnery sergeant…" he managed to croak out.  
"Had to shoot her too." he responded somberly. "If you get bit, you get turned into one unless you get antibiotics on it. Has to be strong stuff too, the kind you get from hospitals. We were out in the wilderness; we had none of that."  
"I'm so sorry." Elusive offered.  
"That sounds awful." Butterscotch agreed, forgetting his shyness for the moment.  
"Why didn't you tell us about these… things?" Rainbow Blitz asked.  
Hawkeye chuckled grimly as he replaced his hood. "Would you have believed me?"

The seven continued into the gunshop and began grabbing rounds from the counter.  
"Nothing military-grade, unfortunately." Elusive reported, searching through the supply with his telekinesis. "This is all civilian ammo."  
"Still better'n nothin'." Applejack said. "We get those things' attention, ah'd rather be fightin' at a distance."  
Hawk was looking for a suitable knife, caught between a machete and an old SEAL knife.  
Dusk saw him in his predicament. "Go for the machete." Dusk advised. "It's longer, less chance of them… reaching you." Dusk thought Hawk was a strong guy, but he wanted to avoid the word "bite" until he was sure Hawk was over Skies's death. Hawk nodded, giving the blade a few practice swings. "Hey, Bubble, you done taking inventory yet?"  
"Just about," he responded, leaning out of a back room, "but they have, like, zero explosives here! Can you belive that? Not one stinking grenade! All I managed to save from the crash was half a pound of C4 and a glowstick!"  
Hawk raised an eyebrow behind his hood. "Trust me, you're gonna be glad he has that later on." Rainbow Blitz said.  
"Hey Hawkeye, what does your rifle take?" Bubble Berry asked, browsing a hunting rifle ammo case in the storage room.  
Normally, Hawkeye would reprimand him for not using "sir", but he decided to let the kid off the hook. ".338 Lapua magnum bullets. See any back there?"  
Bubble Berry shook his head. "Nope, sorry. No Lapuas."  
"Alright then." he said back. 'Good thing I brought a few spare clips, I should be fine for now."  
"Aha! Perfect." Elusive thought aloud, as he used his magic to levitate a pistol and ammo to his hands. "There you are, Butterscotch." he said, holding the weapon out to his companion. "Ruger P99. Just the thing for you." Butterscotch was immediately reluctant, and Elusive sighed. "Oh Butterscotch, you need it for personal defense."  
Butterscotch didn't take them. "Elusive, I don't want to take a gun. I wasn't trained for combat." he meekly argued.  
"You still have to defend yourself." Elusive countered.  
"But I don't want to kill anything Elusive, I'm a medic."  
Seeing that his friend needed help, Dusk stepped in. "They're already dead, Butterscotch. Just think of it as… putting them to sleep. They woke up and need to be put back to sleep."  
Butterscotch looked at the pistol, then sighed. "Okay Dusk, if you say so." Elusive breathed a quiet sigh of relief and gave Dusk a thankful glance. Dusk smiled back.  
"Hey guys, ah think ah found sumthin'." The others gathered around Applejack, who pulled a box of what looked like part of a trigger group out from behind the counter. "The owner of this place was packin' some full-auto civilian fire selectors."  
"I thought those were outlawed?" Blitz asked.  
"Eeyup." Applejack confirmed. "The manifest doesn't say anythin' about 'em." He took out a worn piece of paper. "It does say they have some semi-autos in storage in the range room, an' we can probably put the fire selectors in 'em. Use 'em as assault rifles."  
"What kind of rifles?" Dusk asked.  
"Let's see… mostly civie stuff… a shipment of police M16's, and a couple of L85's." Applejack read. "And it looks like there're even sights for 'em. One's Thermal and the other's got a SUSAT."  
"Excellent. Elusive, get the door." The white unicorn nodded and opened the door to the range with his magic, his MEU at the ready. He entered and motioned with his hand for the others to follow. The range was clear, and the storage room was just across the room, a steel door with a window and a crowbar locking it in place. The crowbar gave them all a bad feeling, but Elusive started forward, about to unblock it.  
"Stop!" Bubble Berry yelled as softly as he could. The others looked at him and he pointed down. "Pinchy knees." he explained. His five friends immediately adopted a scared expression, their eyes bugging out.  
"And what in the name of Celestia does that mean?" Hawkeye asked.  
"Whenever my knees get pinchy, it means that something scary is close. It must be behind the door." he reasoned, and began walking over.  
"That's ridiculous-" Hawkeye began, but Bubble knocked on the door. A slam came from the other side, startling the seven ponies, and a dead pony came into view in the glass portal. "Okay, the crowbar was a dead giveaway." Hawkeye argued.  
"Let's try to keep this quiet." Dusk instructed. "Hawkeye, how good are you with that machete?"  
Hawk pulled the machete from it's sheath on his belt. "I'm good enough." He removed the crowbar from the door and brandished both weapons at the walking corpse as it burst from the storage room, shuffling slowly towards Hawkeye. The sniper threw his crowbar as hard as he could, breaking the dead pony's nose and staggering it for a second, before rushing forward and cleaving it's head in two with the machete. The blade broke off at the handle and the re-killed corpse fell, dead once more. Hawkeye looked at the useless handle in his grip, surprised by how easily it broke. "Huh. Piece of crap." He tossed it away, replaced it with the crowbar, and walked into the armory with the others right behind him. Inside were several semi-automatic rifles, including civilian Car-15s and the two L85A2s, but the M16s were gone.  
"Looks like somepony else got here first and took them." Hawkeye reported. "I bet they locked the zombie in here to keep anyone else away."  
"So zombies is what we're calling them now?" Elusive asked Hawkeye incredulously.  
Hawk simply shrugged. "Why not? They're dead and still walking, sounds like a zombie to me." Elusive rolled his eyes and tossed Dusk a Car-15. He had trouble enough accepting the situation without having to think about them fighting something as ridiculous as zombies.  
"Hey Dusk," Blitz asked, "why don't we grab a bunch of these and use the radio tower to store them until we get a vehicle? I bet we could find a bus or a civilian truck around town."  
"I don't know," Dusk began, "that gun took out a Ural in one shot. A vehicle isn't going to be safe. At least, not around here. Just grab a couple guns, load up on ammo, and let's head out."  
"Great." Blitz complained. "More walking."  
"Better'n bein' dead." Applejack countered. "Or do you end up as baked chicken like our two friends back on the road?" Blitz just sighed in resignation. Soon, each soldier was equipped with a sidearm, their normal weapon, two extra guns, and ammo for all. They ended up almost clearing out the room; needless to say that if whoever took the M16s came back, they'd be pretty pissed off.  
"Let's get out of here." Dusk Shine told everyone. "There's nothing else we need from here, and we should get to Cherno ASAP." The rangers and the sniper snuck back out of town, not noticing the group of dead griffons wearing balaclavas and holding M16s. All of them had rifle wounds.

By midnight, the group was halfway to Cherno, thanks to a quick pace and the relatively small distance between the two towns. The strange rifle was heard again before they went to bed, setting them all on edge. Despite their best efforts, Blitz was not the only one up, and neither was AJ when his turn as sentry came. The night wore on slowly as each soldier tried to sleep, but their brains stayed stubbornly on alert. After what seemed to be an eternity of trepidation and silence, the ponies eventually succumbed to an uneasy slumber, the mix of drowsiness and adrenaline-fueled nerves not doing them any favors. The next day they crept even more carefully towards Cherno, but stopped when the sound of rotor blades reached their ears, perking them into alertness.  
"You hear that?" Dusk asked the group as they looked up for the source, ears swiveling.  
"Behind us." Applejack pointed, and the others turned and followed his finger to find a Huey helicopter flying towards Cherno. As it passed overhead however, an ominous rumbling sounded from within the machine, and it began rapidly losing altitude as the rotors slowed to a stop. It groaned and span, grazing the treetops before crashing to the ground with a tumultuous cacophony of grinding metal. The soldiers nodded to each other and took off in the direction of the smoking helicopter. When they got to the clearing it had crashed in, the survivors were pulling themselves from the wreckage, mostly unharmed. Dusk's eyes grew wide as he heard familiar voices.  
"D*** it Rainbow, what happened?" came the inquiry of who could only be described as the female version of Applejack, complete with the southern drawl and trademark stetson.  
"I think we ran out of gas AJ," went the reply of her cerulean blue sister-in-arms. "It just stopped spinning all of a sudden."  
"What do ya mean ya (italics)think(/italics) we ran outta gas? You were pilotin' the thing, weren't ya?"  
Watching this from their point of concealment, Hawkeye turned to Dusk and noticed his reaction. "Friends of yours sir?" he asked.  
"Yeah." came the simple reply. "It's the friggin' Elements of Harmony. Attachés from the 82nd airborne."  
"No kidding?"  
"Trust me, its them. We know each other from… a bit of an incident way back. Who knew they'd be all the way out here?"  
"Well, I'll introduce myself. You guys stay here for now. We might not be the only ones who heard that crash, and it won't do for us all to be out in the open if that's the case." Dusk nodded and brought up his rifle as Hawkeye walked over to the feuding ponies.  
"Look, I'm not confirming or denying anything here AJ. But I maaaay or may not have been entirely conscious while we were flying."  
"Oh for Celestia's sake!" the orange mare exclaimed with a facehoof. "You were nappin' in the cockpit again, weren't ya?" she angrily accused.  
"Hey, we've been fine every other time I've done it! And it was, like, practically full when I turned on the autopilot. Not my fault that thing chugs gas like Pinkie Pie in cider season!"  
"Hello there," Hawk called out, "are you okay?" The two mares ceased their bickering and looked at him perplexedly, surprised to see another pony. He came to a stop in front of them. "Equestrian Marine Corps, we saw your helo crash."  
"Wow, that was fast." Rainbow Dash said. "Hey Twilight, get out here!" she called. "We've got a friendly!"  
Out of the helicopter stepped a purple unicorn, almost identical to Dusk Shine save that she was a mare as well. "Captain Twilight Sparkle," she introduced, offering a handshake.  
"Hello ma'am," he replied, taking the offer. "I'm Gunnery Seargent Hawkeye Archer, B coy." Rarity and Fluttershy came out carrying an injured Pinkie Pie, right arm and leg broken, to see what was going on.  
"Sorry ta cut the formalities short," AJ cut in, "but you said sumthin' about we. Is someone else with ya?" Hawk gestured for the others to come out and six jaws dropped, their owners all in shock.  
"Well well well." Blitz began. "If it isn't the famous Elements themselves." All six mares shook their heads and cleared themselves of their stupor as their male counterparts came to greet them.  
"Fancy meetin' you here, AJ." Applejack said, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous smile.  
"We got shot down near Electro." Dusk bluntly stated, suppressing all of the questions he knew Twilight had as he tossed her the Thermal L85. "Everyone, give those who need it a rifle and ammunition. As heartwarming as this reunion is, we need to be on the move ASAP." He then turned back to Twilight. "Long story short, we're caught in a zombie infestation."  
Twilight could only stare at him in an absolute deadpan. "You're kidding, right?"  
Dusk shook his head. "I wish I was kidding. You'll just have to trust me until you see them yourself. We're heading through Cherno, then up to the base in Stary."  
"Sounds like a plan. Pinkie says she'll be able to shoot with her left hand, so long as we get her in a sling and splint that leg. We should be fine, so long as we stay together and stay quiet. No doubt you heard that rifle go off?"  
"We saw it firsthand. That's what downed us, and later it took out one of those Griffon Ural trucks in one shot."  
"It's been on the move." Hawkeye added. "We're at least twenty klicks out from where Shine's men crashed, but we still hear that thing at night, and it isn't getting any quieter."  
"Alright Twi!" Rainbow Dash called with a salute. "We're all ready to go. Pinkie's set with some morphine and bandaging. We even found a good walking stick in the trees."  
"Good," she called back, "then let's head out. We have to make it to Cherno before nightfall." With that declaration, they all set out for what promised to be shelter, supplies, and hopefully safety, however temporary.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II: Bandits

It was getting dark when the team of thirteen ponies reached Cherno, and with the night came the kind of tension that only darkness could bring. Not even the moon was of much help, shrinking into one of its half stages and not quite as bright or big as it used to be. Before, where the group had been buzzing as everypony chatted excitedly with their double, despite the protestations of their Marine companion. But now, the tension ran high as the silence and the looming sense of danger suppressed such thoughts. They were on the run from a deadly, unseen foe, and each sound, no matter how harmless, set them on edge. And with these "zombies" running amok, they couldn't afford not to be. Their long, sensitive ears swiveled about, trying to pick up on any threats their eyes couldn't detect, as the coming darkness would soon render their vision unreliable.

They snuck into town and started towards the local hospital, as they had run low on morphine treating Pinkie's arm and leg. If she was to be somewhat combat-ready, they would need to find more. They moved along as quickly as they could while still retaining silence in their footsteps and frequently hid in whatever urban shadows they could find to escape the light of the waning half Moon. Though they themselves could hardly see, the zombies had already proven themselves proficient nocturnal hunters. Only when they reached the hospital did they allow themselves to feel a semblance of safety.

The establishment was simply designed; a rectangular prism with rows of windows across the front and sides, with the front entrance practically transparent with the amount of glass that was present in the wall, giving an unobstructed view of the interior. It was impossible to be ambushed here. Staying low, they entered the abandoned establishment, clearing the building slowly and methodically, checking every corner and never taking a step without a rifle at the ready. It was obvious that the hospital had been the subject of other raids, but they grabbed whatever medical supplies that had been left and made for the exit. With Blitz and Elusive in the lead, they exited the hospital through a side door, so as not to attract attention, opening it slowly to peek outside.  
A loud CRACK suddenly rent the silence as a bullet thudded into the wall near Elusive's head. He let out an involuntary yelp and Rarity cried out his name before Blitz roughly grabbed him and pulled him back into the hospital, shutting the heavy metal door with his other hand. Everyone else raised their rifles immediately at the sound while Rarity hurried over.

"Are you alright darling?" Rarity worriedly asked while Dusk took stock of the situation.  
'The corridor we're in has no windows, but the same can't be said for the rest of the floor. We can't afford to be pinned here.'  
"I'm fine, my dear," Elusive answered, putting on a brave face despite his trembling. "Of course, nothing at all to worry about. Just took me by surprise is all."  
"Did anypony see who shot at us?" Twilight asked the others.  
"Ah think ah know," AJ the mare offered. As per an earlier arrangement, they had all decided to call the stallion by his full name and abbreviate her's. "There's a tall building across from us, kind of looks like a hotel."  
"Judging by the trajectory, I'd say AJ's right," Blitz confirmed. "That shot almost hit the wall sideways."  
Hawkeye nodded. "I saw that building, it has a good line of sight on us. If we'd tried to go out the front door, it would nail us head-on. Same can be said if we try any of the side exits, and the back just leads out of town. With no buildings to cover us, we'll be stuck behind the hospital itself."  
"What if we sneak in there and catch him off guard?" Rainbow Dash theorized. "I know I'm fast enough to get in there without being hit," she said with her usual cockiness.  
"And I'm _faster_ than her, so we should be fine." Blitz added, earning himself a glare from Dash.  
"And then what?" Twilight countered. "We don't know how many of these thugs are in there, you could get in serious trouble."  
"We need to get to higher ground and engage him," Dusk said. Everyone turned to him, knowing by now that his silence had meant a plan forming. "There's a good spot on the second floor where we can all fire at the same time without being so exposed, while still presenting a tempting target. When we draw his attention, that's when you snipe him from the floor above," he told Hawkeye.  
"Sounds like a plan." The third floor would put him at about halfway up both buildings, just high enough to shoot straight into the upper windows of the hotel without being so high as to be at a disadvantageous angle while shooting at the lower ones.  
"Let's go." With that, they moved out, careful not to be in sight of any windows as they ascended.

As the Marine headed to the third floor, the other twelve set up their position. There were about eight windows, each opened conveniently to the cool night breeze. Twilight and Dusk each took the second one to the left and right from the center while Blitz and Rainbow had their backs next to the innermost windows. Everypony else paired up with their double and headed for the remaining openings, still careful not to be seen. When Hawkeye was ready, he pounded three times on the floor of the building with the butt of his rifle, the signal to start.

"On the count of three," Dusk whispered, holding up three fingers as he counted off. "One…"  
Twilight and the others gripped their firearms in anticipation. This wasn't the first firefight either squad had been in, and it wasn't nearly the last, but the trepidation always came to them in that calm before the storm. Fluttershy and Butterscotch trembled on opposite sides of their glass portal. AJ snuck in a leery, sidelong glance at her companion, Applejack, who tried his best to avoid her gaze. Rarity and Elusive shared a small smile, each promising and reassuring the other, while also laughing at the situation; had they not been soldiers, they would have gone into far more theatrical expressions of concern, a fact that both knew and found funny.

"Two…"

The twelve ponies clicked off their safeties and laid their fingers on the triggers. Pinkie and Bubble were ominously still as each tried to ignore the itching in their knees. Their demeanor shifted into serious mode, though they tried to retain a semblance of their usual air about them: they were at their best when playing games, and what was this but the most extreme game of whack-a-mole? The double Rainbows were tense and ready to spring, like they always felt before the flag dropped and the race was on. Combat after all was just another competition, and it never failed to give them that little thrill, that little shot of adrenaline that wound them tighter than a mousetrap yet let them snap twice as fast. Twilight and Dusk each had their faces set, their bodies rigid, like a predator waiting for the moment to pounce. They were commanders, and a commander was what was expected of both of them. In truth they were nervous, more so than their companions. Less than a year ago, they'd been students learning about the magic of friendship, neurotic and unsure of themselves. The same feeling always persisted, but they had learned by now to suppress that anxiety. The only reaction they gave to the situation was one of cold, hard calculation. Just another test to pass. And this one was a cakewalk.

"Three."

Dusk pivoted on his feet to face the hotel and fired once, with everyone else following suit. They all shot at the first window in their sights, quickly drawing the attention of the enemy sniper, as well as everything else within earshot. Hopefully, that everything else would just stay away. Dusk fired another shot at another random window before ducking back into cover. After a few moments of silence, he slowly turned his head to peak out of the window. He cast his eyes about, searching for any opening along the surface of the building that the sniper might fire from.

A mighty CRACK once again tore through the night as a shot from the renegade tore a chunk out of Twilight's wall, who leapt to the side with a cry.

"Twilight!" he called. She got up, showing no signs of harm, though her heart had begun hammering at the near miss. She forced herself to calm down and took her position. The others had already started shooting. Dusk peaked out again to see where the assailant was, but ducked back quickly when he didn't see him. He stayed there as more shots were fired from both sides, each pony taking it in turns to pop up when they thought they weren't being targeted. 'Hawk sure is taking his sweet time.' Dusk looked around the corridor, noticing a large mirror fixed to the wall, and pried it loose with his magic. He rotated it in midair until he could see the hotels reflection, just in time to see a shadow disappear from one of the windows.

"Get up everypony, and keep an eye out," he ordered, "he's switching positions."  
"We can see that Dusk," Blitz said. "That's what happens when you don't hide behind a wall the whole time," he continued jokingly.  
Dusk ignored the jab and kept his eyes glued to the hotel, waiting for the sniper to reappear.

"You really shouldn't talk to him like that," Rainbow Dash whispered mockingly. "After all, it sure would suck if you got even lower then you are on the chain of command." She started chuckling quietly, much to her partner's chagrin. At least for a moment.  
"Well, maybe that's how it works in your group, but us stallions can actually take a joke," Blitz countered with a smile of his own as he trained his eagle eyes through his sights. 'Come out, come out, wherever you are…'

Rainbow glared at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked indignantly.  
"Oh, nothing," he responded innocently. "Just that maybe the famous Elements of Harmony can't handle the a little joke, what with how stressful battle seems to be for you gals. No one would blame you, what with a name like that. Hey, relax! I'm just kidding," he said when he saw the peeved look on her face. "You need to lighten up."  
"This is a warzone. Maybe you _stallions _just don't know how to take things seriously."  
"Says the pilot who fell asleep on the job."  
"Like you don't ever take naps on duty."  
"Not while I'm flying a helicopter. How many is it you've crashed now anyways?"  
"Why you little… I swear, if we weren't on a mission, I'd strangle you." Blitz ignored her and kept up his watch.  
A small glint of light in one of the windows caught his eye, like some metallic object had hit the scant moonlight. He smiled. 'Forgot to factor in reflection, dumbass' He steadied his rifle and saw as the sniper brought his own to bear. It was a long shot, as his Car-15 wasn't built for military-grade accuracy, but he figured there was no harm. 'Well, if Hawk's just going to let anyone take it…' he thought giddily. As he was lining up the shot, finger on the trigger, he saw the mysterious gunman point his rifle towards him, but to the left a few degrees. His eyes went wide as saucer plates.

"Get down!" Blitz yelled as he flung himself toward Rainbow Dash, who let out a grunt as they fell to the floor, narrowly allowing the bullet to miss.  
"Ow!" she exclaimed through clenched teeth at the rough tackle. Her mind quickly got over the initial surprise as she noticed the bullet hole in the wall adjacent to hers. She looked back up at Blitz, who got off her and offered her a hand, staying out of the window's sight.

"Thanks for the save," she said sincerely, more shocked than anything, as she took his arm, hauled herself up, and moved back to her cover, all thoughts of their rivalry temporarily forgotten.

He handed back her CAR-15. "No problem Dash." he reciprocated with a smile, before the smile quickly changed into a smirk. "I suppose you owe me now."  
"In your dreams," she scoffed. She rolled her eyes at Blitz's continued smirking. 'He'll never let me hear the end of it.' The pair got back to locating their target, who promptly opened fire again. Blitz leapt out and let off a few rounds of his own before ducking back into cover.  
"Hawk, just where in the hay are you…" Blitz muttered as he tried his best to avoid the wall-piercing rounds.

"Wait for it…" Hawkeye muttered to himself as he saw the scoundrel pop out of a window and take a shot before popping back in. 'That's the fourth,' Hawkeye thought, finger ready on the trigger. 'He always waits five seconds after the fourth shot.' "Wait for it… Gotcha!" The M24A3 let loose a huge CRACK, releasing a .338 Lapua magnum bullet from the chamber that drilled into the sniper's head, just as he popped back up. Hawk pulled back the bolt, ejecting the empty cartridge, and re-chambered the rifle, scanning for any movement. Applejack the stallion reached up and struck the ceiling with his rifle to get his attention.

"Nice shot Hawk." he yelled up out his window, figuring that any more noise wouldn't matter at this point. "Come on down, we're gonna check out the bandit's body." Hawk stowed his rifle on his back and drew his pistol, a Colt Brothers Single Action Army. It was focused on power and accuracy instead of range, but range didn't really matter when clearing a building.

He jogged back downstairs and met up with the others. They had all taken stock of what was left of their ammo, which, thanks to their efforts to conserve, was still within a safe range. They descended and, exercising extreme caution on the street, headed towards the hotel building. Once inside, they headed to the fourth floor, where the sniper was shooting from. They entered the level with guns at the ready, and made for the only closed room. They broke down the door, finding the dead sniper inside. Hawk advanced first.

"Griffon, looks like he was a civilian." Hawk said as he moved to check the body before finding a pair of dog-tags. "Scratch that, guerilla forces." Hawk pulled a pair of night vision goggles from his backpack. "NVGs, looks like he had two pairs." He handed one of them to Blitz, who whistled.  
"Military grade, how'd he get these?"  
Hawk shrugged. "Probably took them off a dead zombie." The sniper had an SVDS sniper rifle, which Rarity held onto, and a Makarov pistol, which Dusk gave to Fluttershy, who had no weapon. She was as reluctant to wield a firearm as Butterscotch, but the Elements convinced her eventually.

"Y'know," Blitz began, "we could just stay here for the night. It's pretty defensible, so long as we keep the curtains drawn," he said with a laugh.  
He was heading the group as normal as they walked away from hotel, Bubble Berry helping Pinkie limp along, with the intent of checking the town out a bit more before finding shelter. The whole purpose in going there was to catch their breath after all, and there were bound to be caches of useful supplies hidden around. They remained vigilant, but the victory had helped ease the tension and they loosened up a bit.

"What do you think Twilight?" Dusk asked.  
"I think that we've made enough noise around here to attract a lot of attention, and the last thing we need is a territory dispute," she analyzed, ever cautious.  
Dusk was partially of the same mind, but couldn't ignore it's tactical superiority. "All the same, Blitz is right on how easily we could defend this place. The thirteen of us could watch all approaches, and there are plenty of routes to retreat through in a bind."  
"It does seem like the logical choice," Hawkeye added, "but only at a glance. There are plenty of exploitable qualities as well."  
"Like what?" Applejack asked. "Seems pretty solid to me."  
"Well for one, it's too tall, and has too many windows. Too many floors and entrances to cover without a small army, and each are completely accessible to anyone with wings. We don't have the time or materials to cover those up. And even if we did, it would be simple enough to break through."  
"We could have a lookout stationed on the roof." Dusk countered.  
"Then he'd be the first to go. Way too exposed." Hawkeye turned to Dusk. "You ever shot at a pegasus before, Dusk?"  
"What?" he asked incredulously, completely taken back. "N-No, that's… why would I do that?"  
"Thought so. It's harder than you think. It's not just their speed, they're also incredibly agile. Best of 'em can practically turn on a dime. Griffons might not be as fancy, but they can be just as hard to hit. Besides, we can't ignore the possibility of any rogue pegasi desperate to survive either." He noticed the look of shock on Dusk's face. "Don't get me wrong. The hotel might be as good as any place here. You just have to plan for these sorts of things. Your tactics are too ground-based," he ended with a smile, obscured with the rest of his face by the hood on his gillie suit.

Dusk and the others were more than a little perturbed at his explanation. There was a small awkward silence as they continued walking, finding themselves crossing a three-way intersection surrounded by abandoned shops. "Uh, have you actually-" Dusk cut himself off as Blitz, almost instantly followed by himself and the others, turned his head and directed his ears towards the road. "I hear it too."

There was a loud roaring coming from the countryside. Blitz put on the night vision goggles and gazed down the road. "There's a column of vehicles coming our way."  
"Numbers?" Dusk asked as the group readied their weapons.  
"Two Urals, side by side. Aaaaaand…" he said as he flew up a bit to see behind them. "…a jeep, and a white pickup truck. Griffon drivers. Wait…"  
"That could mean a lot of trouble." Twilight calculated.  
"We should probably go hide," Fluttershy timidly suggested, eyes wide. "That sounds like a lot of griffons."  
"That's a great idea, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash agreed with a glint in her eye.  
"It is?" Fluttershy asked, surprised.  
"We could ambush them as they roll by!" she continued enthusiastically, hitting her palm with a fist.  
"Um, that's not really, exactly what I-"  
"We've got a problem guys," Blitz informed them as he touched back down.  
"What I meant…" Fluttershy finished quietly, unbeknownst to anypony.  
"They've got a prisoner. Female Pegasus, bound and gagged in the back of the pickup. There're two griffins watching her, both with a barrel to her head. We start any shootouts and she could get killed."  
Everypony turned to Twilight and Dusk.

That extra bit of information put Dusk in a dilemma. 'Let the convoy go and risk that pony's life, or attack and risk everyone's? I have a duty to my team, but what about everypony else? Don't I have a duty to them too?' He looked around for anything that might be of use, any sort of environmental advantages, but the convoy was getting louder by the second. No time for plans. 'We could be seriously outnumbered here. If we start a fight we'll have the element of surprise, but the prisoner might get killed, or used as a shield, or a bargaining chip. We don't know what kind of weapons they have, this could be a really bad idea… But we can't let them take her.' He glanced over at Twilight, who was deep in similar thoughts. She raised her head and nodded. Dusk nodded back. No pony left behind. "Alright," Dusk began, pointing at the various shop fronts along the road, "garrison these buildings. Bubble, you help Pinkie over to that restaurant, it'll give you some good cover. Everypony else, spread out. Get down, stay quiet, and watch your fire. If we're careful, we can save this pony." They all moved briskly to the fronts of the various stores bordering the streets.

The vehicles soon slowed to a halt in the middle of the intersection, much to the surprise of the group lying in wait. The engines continued rumbling, presumably while the griffons checked if everything was clear, before they died down and the headlights flicked off. The griffons exited the trucks, stepping out and standing up, proud and tall on their five-toed lion paws. They were donned in Spetsnaz gear over their brown feathers, with two large holes in the back to accommodate their large wings. Their guns were at the ready in their wicked talons, scanning in all directions. The concealed squad of thirteen ponies ducked down to avoid being seen. The pony, a marine, was dragged off the pickup unceremoniously by a pair of grey griffons who carried suppressed Bizon PP-19 submachine guns. There were a total of nineteen, a whole platoon of operators, armed with various assault rifles. 'Nothing heavy, and not as many as there could be. Trouble along the road, or are they all just scattered?' Dusk mused as he risked a peek. 'Good to know the freaking zombie apocalypse is capable of finally disrupting their war effort.'

The griffons made their kingdom in a mountain range north of Equestria, in a wild section of the world where nature ran its course. They didn't even have weather control, though not for lack of trying. The griffons could walk on clouds, but had great difficulty moving or shaping them, and it was completely impossible to tell them when to rain or snow. Still, they were a hardy species from living in the mountains and didn't mind their ineptitude: they preferred the lawless feel that nature had and, in their opinion, it meant they were tougher than their "soft pony neighbors". Unfortunately, they were right. The average griffon was more than a match for the average pony physically, and it was only with the invention and rapid development of firearms over the years of peace that the ponies had found an edge, where speed and maneuverability of their armies, as well as new schools of tactics, mattered more than the strength of individual soldiers. Over the centuries, griffons had depleted their metal reserves, meaning they had limited resources in the way of production for the modern brand of warfare. But the griffons were tenacious and adaptable, and learned now, as they had done since their kingdom's inception, to make do with what they had, and what they lacked in resources and development they made up for in determination and stamina. Coupled with the fact that their generals were quick studies when it came to the arts of war, the griffons had fought their Equestrian neighbors to a stalemate.

"Ok Spetsnaz, listen up," a griffon, apparently the leader, said in a deep, gruff voice, showing off his Equestrian to intimidate his prisoner. "You know the drill. Search the town for supplies, grab any ponies you see, and get back to the convoy." Just as the first few griffons spread their wings to take off, the ponies moved into action. Hawk was the first to squeeze off a bullet and dispatched one of the prisoner's guards from the bushes nearby. Surprised, the other guard took his focus off of the Pegasus, who broke out of his grip and leapt to the ground. Hawk shifted his aim to the leader next, and one loud bang later, he hit the floor. The griffons began turning franticly to locate him in the darkness before the others popped up, set on automatic. With the prisoner safely on the ground and bullets coming from every direction, the griffons were cut down in seconds. Any shots they fired went wide and the last one, the second guard, resorted to grabbing the captive marine in a headlock and held her close in front of him, his back to the large Ural.

"COME OUT YOU _SUKAS_!" he bellowed, wild-eyed and breathing heavily. The others stared him down through their sights. "Hands in the air! Throw your weapons away or I shoot!" he yelled at the ponies he could barely see. They contemplated shooting the weapon out of his hand, but couldn't get the right angle. He turned constantly, sweeping his shield in their firing paths. If they fired and missed, that pony was dead. Even if they hit him, the trigger was pulled to within a hair's breadth of firing. Hawk got up and silently moved behind the griffon's back, on the other side of the Ural. "I said weapons down! I'll shoot!" Hawk appeared around the Ural's front, brandishing his SAA at the feathery target.

"Leave her," he began, making the griffon jump and face him, "and I'll let you walk."

"You expect me to trust the word of a pony?" he asked.

He pulled back the action on the revolver. "I expect I'll shoot you if you don't."  
The griffon considered his options for a second. "…Ok, ok, I'm going." The griffon released his captive, who walked slowly over to Hawk, and backed away towards the Jeep, his arm holding the Bizon in the air. The griffon tossed the weapon inside, started up the jeep, and drove off, back towards Electro. The rest of the squad came out of cover and came together in the road to check the vehicles, Elusive and Rarity leading the way with lit horns.

"Think we should warn him about the sniper?" Bubble Berry asked Dusk.

"Nah, let him find out for himself." Butterscotch looked at Blitz, who merely shrugged. In the meantime, Hawk and the other Marine were gathering up ammunition from the dead griffons. Dusk and Twilight went to talk with the marine, horns also alight.

"So what's your name corporal?" Twilight asked, noting her rank. Bathed in the violet light of her illumination spell, the Pegasus could be seen properly: her face was covered in pale blue fur, her mane was silvery-white and cut to medium length, which she was now bobbing up into a ponytail, and her tail was cropped short at 5 inches long, as per regulation. On her sleeve, she wore a patch of her cutie mark, a snowflake with a small gust of wind flowing from each point.

"Stormy Winters ma'am, Fox Company, designated marksmare," she answered in a light Prench accent and saluted Twilight.

"Hey Rarity!" Dusk called. The white unicorn stuck her head out of the Ural's window. "Our marine friend over here is a sniper, she could use your SVDS."  
"Aw, and I was beginning to like this rifle," she responded sullenly. She sighed and tossed it to Dusk, who caught it with a levitation spell and presented it to Stormy.  
"Here, you look like you'll need a weapon."  
"Thank you sir. I must say, I've never used a Griffon rifle before." She gazed down the sights of the rifle and started fiddling with the scope. After about two minutes of scavenging the dead griffons for their weapons and ammunition, they split up into four groups. Hawk was on top of the hospital, guarding the guys in the hospital wards, and Winters was on top of the hotel with girls below in a room, both of them equipped with the NVGs.

While the others slept, Twilight found herself kept awake by a worrying observation: the behavior of the two Applejacks towards each other. It was a subtle thing to notice, but it was there. 'It could be nothing…' she thought to herself, but she couldn't deny that the stallion Applejack was rather skittish around her Applejack, and she decided to get an answer. She got up from her place on the floor, having given Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity the two beds in the room, slowly walked over to the window, and lightly nudged the orange mare, who was helping to keep an eye out with whatever light the moon and stars could provide. Not much, but it beat laying there and leaving the outside to her imagination, in her opinion.

"Hey, AJ?" She turned her head towards Twilight, keeping her Car-15 aimed down the street towards a couple of zombies. "Mind if I ask you something?"  
"What's up Twi?" AJ asked.  
"I just noticed that whenever you're with Applejack, he acts kinda nervous. Is there a reason why?"  
Applejack took a few moments to respond. "Twilight, ah really don't think this is a good time to be askin' me somethin' like that."  
"I beg to differ. This is about as peaceful as it's going to get," Twilight reasoned.  
AJ just became more uncomfortable. "Well, it's… Uh, this is somethin' that needs to be worked out between the two of us. Family business. I shouldn't be tellin' anypony."  
"There's no need to keep secrets, AJ. Maybe we can help." She was silent. "And if it's affecting how the two of you work together, I think I deserve to know. So does Dusk."  
"Ah just don't think ah have the right to tell ya is all. It's personal, to both of us."  
"We can't have personal problems on this team AJ," Twilight said, growing stern. "There's no such thing." Again, she was silent. "Applejack, I don't want to pull rank on you but I will."  
AJ sighed. "Ok, fine, ah'll tell ya," she surrendered. "But… whatever you hear," she said nervously, "ah want ya to promise that ya won't change your view o' me. And ya can't tell the others, either."  
"Why not?"  
"You'll get it once ah say my piece, Twi," AJ answered almost desperately. "Please, promise me."  
Twilight was confused, but changed her expression to one of sympathy. "You have my word Applejack," Twilight said comfortingly, laying a hand on her shoulder, before enacting their customary oath. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."  
"Thanks," AJ said, a little relieved. Then she sighed again. "Well," she began, "the thing is… ah don't trust him."  
"What?" Twilight asked in shock. "You two seemed to get along perfectly after that whole… misadventure we had."  
"We did. But the thing is he came to the farm a few months back, 'afore the war. It was s'pose ta be a surprise for y'all, that our doubles were here in Equestria. Wouldn't even tell me how or why he got here. But the mornin' after he arrived, he volunteered to help Big Macintosh with some chores. They went into the Everfree Forest ta check out a new potion Zecora had for us to help with the orchard. All of a sudden, bam! They're in a fight with a couple timber wolves. And Applejack just goes and leaves Big Mac to fight 'em himself!"  
"Really?" Twilight asked. "That doesn't sound like him at all."  
"Well, that's what happened. He came back to the farm half-draggin' Big Mac along with 'im. Mac had tons of scrapes and scratches, his legs were bruised up real bad, and he was barely awake. Looked exactly like timber wolf work ta me. There's was even some bark stuck in some of 'em. That's when Applejack basically says, 'I was scared! I left 'im!'" she mockingly imitated. "Then he has the gall to start spinnin' some yarn about some kinda giant he saw that made 'im take off. Says he ran for a while before the guilt got to 'im, and he came back. Mac was unconscious, bleeding, and the 'giant' was gone." AJ's tone suddenly became somber, and she dipped her head slightly as she talked. "We got into a huge fight about what he did, and he stuck to his garbage of a story, sayin' I'da done the same if I were him. Well, that tore it for me. Ah told him right then and there to leave and… that if ah ever saw him near my farm again, I'd…"  
"That must have been hard," Twilight said gently, only imagining what AJ could have said when she was that angry.  
"We were just so worried… I mean, for a minute, it looked like Mac could've been crippled. And to think that he'd just turn tail and run! And then come back with some cockamamie conspiracy theory! We're supposed to be family!"  
"We all get scared sometimes, AJ," Twilight said, trying to defuse the earth pony. "We all do things we regret. He is sorry, isn't he?"  
"Oh, he says he felt just awful," Applejack remarked sarcastically. "He was so ashamed, he hasn't even told any of his friends. Said he swore never to speak of it." AJ again switched to a more serious tone. "But that ain't the point. Ya didn't see how crazed he was. I've never seen anypony that scared before." AJ lifted her head and looked Twilight straight in the eyes. "Now I'm nervous he'll do the same here, and leave us fer dead."  
"I'll make sure Dusk knows, so we can keep an eye on him. Ok?" The mare nodded, turning back to her Car-15. "And try to understand why he did it. You two _are_ family, and family members forgive each other.  
"Thanks Twi." She paused for a few moments. "And ya ain't mad that I didn't tell y'all the good news, about our doubles bein' here? It was mighty selfish of me to keep that from everypony. Ya had a right to know," she apologized guiltily.  
"Applejack, it sounds like you went through a very trying ordeal. I can understand you not wanting to talk about him or any of them for a while."  
"Well, that makes me feel a tad better." She smiled faintly, then continued watching the Zombies shuffle around a few yards away. Despite having gotten the incident off her chest and telling someone, she still felt uneasy when she thought of Applejack. The mysterious rifle fired several more shots that night, louder than ever now, which did nothing to help AJ calm her already worried mind.

After a night's rest, the ponies returned to the main road and set off towards Stary Sobor, where an Equestrian military base was set up outside of town. Being on foot meant traveling alongside the road in order to avoid the mountainous foothills that flanked it, or else spend several extra hours walking, something they couldn't afford. Blitz was on point again with his shotgun, followed by Hawk, with Stormy bringing up the rear this time. While the vehicles would have been faster than walking, there was always the worry of the strange rifle-like weapon that seemed to be tracking them. The survivors were about half a kilometer out from Stary when they heard the steady thrum of a helicopter. Looking up, Blitz's eyes grew wide in fear: a Griffonian Hind helicopter was rapidly approaching.

"SHIT! Hind on our six Dusk!" Blitz roared, grabbing the closest pony to him, Butterscotch, and flying into the hills, which served as the only available protection, while Dash did the same with Fluttershy. The remaining survivors ran for cover as the Hind began to fire its forty millimeter machine gun at the ponies scrambling on the ground. The pilot of the Hind looked through his helmet's HUD and gained a lock on the small white unicorn mare that held a Car-15. The griffon grinned broadly, but the smile soon fell from his face as he took a bullet through the chest, accompanied by the loudest noise that the mysterious rifle had made yet. He grunted and slumped over the controls, sending the chopper into a wild spin. The ponies had stopped after hearing the strange rifle go off and set up a defensive perimeter, watching the helicopter crash into a nearby forest.

"Did you guys here the sound it made?" Blitz asked nervously, worried about the proximity of the unseen gunman.  
"That definitely wasn't a normal rifle," Elusive agreed. "Bubble, Pinkie, any thoughts?"  
The two pink ponies looked at each other and shrugged. "I got nothin'," came the simultaneous reply.  
"Well that's definitely the loudest it's ever been," Hawkeye observed. "Wherever that son of a bitch is hiding, it's close."  
"In that case, we should go check that crash out. Perhaps our mystery sniper will be there confirming their kill," Stormy spoke up, clicking the safety off of her SVDS rifle.

Dusk and Twilight considered the idea. "Ok, Hawk, Dusk, Stormy and I will go check it out. Everypony else, try and get out of sight in the tree line, we'll be back within the hour," Twilight ordered, checking the clip on her L85 TWS for the bullet count – twenty three, with two extra clips in her backpack. The four ponies started off towards the crash site, towards the east of the road in a clearing. They didn't have to walk for long before finding the crater it made. They watched it from the trees, and saw an earth pony with an odd looking rifle strapped to his back. He was wearing a plaid shirt and some blue jeans, a battered black Stetson resting on his head. In his hands he carried a Lee Manefield rifle, and he was trying to pry open the cockpit, which had been jammed shut by the crash. The four ponies started over to him stealthily, and crept up behind him.

"Howdy there," the pony called out neighborly, making the ponies freeze in their tracks, before finally prying open the cockpit of the Hind with a groan of the metal.  
"Uh… Hi?" Dusk released his finger from the Car-15's trigger guard and flicked the safety on. "I'm Command Sergeant Major Dusk Shine," he introduced formally. "Are you the pony that shot down this helicopter?" he asked the pony, who stood up and turned to them with a nod. With the pony facing them, Dusk could finally get a good look at their haunting gunman. The pony was white but Dusk could also see a black splotch sticking out of his left sleeve. 'A spotted pony?' Dusk thought to himself with amusement. His mane and tail were both jet black, with matching gloves on his hands.

"Sure did! This gun will take out all kinds of cars n' stuff. There's only three vehicles ah haven't destroyed in a single shot: a tank, a bus, and a cargo plane. Never have found out why those damned buses won't blow up…" he said in contemplation, looking away from the group. Twilight and Dusk looked at each other and Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Anyway," he said, returning to ponies in front of him, "ah was waitin' fer you to start thunderin' through the forest, but when ya'll stuck to the road, ah got giddy, 'cuz the griffs like ta use their choppers to watch the road. Ah hate ta break it to ya'll, but you're about as stealthy as a sugared-up filly in a room full'a horns." He extended his right hand to Dusk, who shook it. "Name's Wild Karde. Ah moved out here afore the war started, ta settle down somewhere quiet. Used ta live down in Dodge junction. Now with the war over an' all them zombies runnin' around, I hunt them and the griffs. Ah'm jus' using you as bait 'cuz yer loud enough to wake half of Tartarus," he readily insulted. Dusk decided he didn't like this guy.

"Hey, my flank we're loud! I've been keeping everypony quiet the whole way to Stary," Hawk fumed, flicking the safety on his M24 off. Nopony insulted the stealth abilities of Hawkeye Archer. Karde merely chuckled.  
"If that's what ya call stealth then paint me white and call me Celestia. I've heard you since back before Electrozadversk...Vask…Elctrovads…Electro. Thank ya kindly for drawing those griffons in the Ural towards town by the way, they'd been stealing my ammunition stashes. So, what are ya army types doin' out here instead of up at Stary?"  
Dusk decided to answer from now on, as it didn't seem like letting Hawkeye, who looked ready to commit murder, talk any longer. "We were shot down near Electro, and we're trying to push through Stary up to Namalsk to use the radio there. We need to get reinforcements and get the princesses to deal with this plague or… whatever the hay is happening around here."  
"Army types, I'm a marine you uneducated hick," Hawk muttered venomously.

"Ha, good luck gettin' the princesses ta get off of their plots ta help us outta here," he said amusedly, to Twilight's shock. "Don't ya think that if they were gonna send us reinforcements, they would a sent 'em already? Naw, we're alone in this fight. Anyways, good luck with your mission, ah'll be watchin'. Happy Trails!"  
It was as the pony turned to walk away that Dusk noticed an image on his gloves: two shovels super-imposed onto an arrowhead. "Wait a minute…" he whispered in disbelief. "Hey!" he shouted in shock. "Where did you get those gloves?" Karde stopped. "Those gloves are from the Engineering and Breaching Corps. Equestrian military. Where did a civilian like you get those from?" he asked. 'If someone from the Corps is down here, we might not be alone in this!' Dusk and his squad had made many new comrades during their time in the Engineering Corps, and they needed friends more than ever right now.

Without turning around, Karde replied, "Now that there's my own damn business, now ain't it?"  
"It's mine as well," Dusk replied, more seriously this time. "I was _in _that branch. And I want to know where those came from." 'I won't let this lead go. If there are others down here, we have to find them.'  
"And why should I tell a pryin' little soldier boy like you, huh?" Karde retaliated defensively, turning around to look Dusk in the eye. "What business is it o'yours what gloves I'm wearin'? Maybe I should ask why your 'sneaky' li'l sniper there has his ridiculous get-up."  
"What'd you say to me!?"  
"Hawk, stand down," Twilight ordered, doing her best to suppress her own annoyance.  
"Maybe you should mind yourself, _Sergeant Major_, and do your buckin' job instead of questionin' us simple folk down here about our choice in gloves. Maybe I took 'em off a zombie, maybe a corpse. Maybe I made a corpse and then took 'em. Why should I tell ya?"

"Because you're outnumbered," Stormy threatened, standing back with her SVDS pointed straight at him. "Now answer the question. I don't like disrespect to my superior officers, _trouduce._  
"_Ferme ta bouche, soldat de dame_," he shot back, much to everypony's surprise, especially Stormy's, who lowered her weapon. "And don't try ta threaten me. I've got the big scary gauss gun, remember?"  
'So that's what it is,' Dusk noted. 'But that kind of technology is still in the works. How'd this guy get a hold of a gauss rifle?' Either way, Dusk wasn't about to let this Wilde Karde test such a weapon against his men.

"Look, we all need to calm down here," Dusk said, stepping out between Karde and Hawkeye. "We have enough enemies as it is." He decided to try a more diplomatic approach. "I need to know where those gloves came from. If there are any other soldiers out here, we could help each other get out of this mess, get a message to Canterlot. Anyone wearing those gloves'll know me and my men."  
"Well ah hate ta break it to ya, but the pony who wore these is dead. If it helps, ah ain't the one who killed him. And a word a' advice: stick to yourselves. The only other ponies out here are lookin' out fer themselves and nopony else."  
"We'll take our chances," Twilight stated seriously. Hawk and Stormy's weren't the only ones rubbed the wrong way by Karde's mouth. "Even if we could, we aren't going to leave any of our friends here to die."  
Wilde Karde laughed darkly. "Well, ain't that the most sentimental thing I ever heard. That kinda thinkin'll get y'all killed. You get a chance to get outta here, you take it, and everypony else be damned. Now if you'll excuse me, ah got some feather faces to hunt. Good day to ya," he spat. The southern pegasus then headed off towards the east, disappearing into the trees. The squad turned to each other.

"Who votes we hunt down that arrogant bastard?" Hawk asked.  
"I'll second that," Stormy agreed.  
"You two get back to the others," Twilight ordered. "Tell Blitz and Dash to fly back and get the Ural. I don't think Wilde Karde is going to shoot us, so long as we keep attracting targets for him. We could use the transportation. Dusk and I will try to find him. There are some more questions I want answered." Hawk and Stormy nodded, and started walking back to the convoy.  
"You really meant that, Twilight?" Dusk asked when they were out of earshot. "About my friends?"  
"Of course, Dusk. Any friends of yours are friends of mine, and I don't let my friends down. If they're here, we'll find them." She smiled softly at him. "That's a promise, bro."

He smiled back at the word. They did consider themselves siblings, and he had a feeling that this war would only strengthen that bond, no matter what some crazy pony said. "Thanks sis." They started following the direction Karde had gone. "You don't think he was serious about the princesses, do you?"  
"Absolutely not," replied immediately. "You can trust the princesses as much as you trust your princes. I'm telling you, they must've heard that our squads never arrived, and is marshaling a rescue as we speak." But Twilight, as ticked as she was at Wilde Karde's words, she couldn't hide a hint of doubt from herself.  
After looking for fifteen minutes, the pair of unicorns gave up and teleported out of the forest, making their way to the waiting Ural truck. They then continued on towards Stary, Twilight still pretty angry about the earth pony's words about the princesses, with Hawk angry at the insults to his stealth. He grumbled all the way into Stary Sobor about stupid earth ponies who didn't even know the concept of stealth.

"He's absolutely wrong," Twilight reassured herself, sitting in the back of the Ural. "The reinforcements are probably on their way at this moment.  
"He has a point though," Stormy admitted, polishing the barrel of her Dragunov SVDS rifle with a rag that had been in the pickup's glove box. She sat across from Twilight. "It would only take a day or two for a marine combat force to get here, half that for the SEALs. It's been two days." Twilight bit her lip, knowing the Marine was right. "Still though," Stormy continued, "they'll probably send reinforcements soon. They might just have been notified late due to issues with the communications relays. The ESS Khe Sahn's probably on its way right now." That re-assured Twilight slightly, but she still couldn't shake Karde's words from her mind.

'Who is this guy?' she wondered. 'He's obviously a giant jerk, and he acted so idiotic and hot-headed, like he was daring us all to attack. But then he got serious… All because of those gloves. He even spoke freaking PRENCH; where did that even come from?' She shook her head. 'It can't just be the gloves. He has some connection to the Engineering and Breaching Corps. Maybe I should ask Dusk…' She glanced at her look-a-like who sat just to her left, thinking almost the exact same thing. What Twilight hadn't told Applejack earlier was that she already knew their doppelgängers were in Equestria: Celestia had told her she had requisitioned several companies' worth of ponies, almost all colts, from Dusk's universe to supplement their army, a fact that the Princess and now Dusk and his companions wanted kept a secret. Twilight knew she never would have told her that unless Dusk and his friends were among them. Save for a few exceptions, they had all been gathered to form the Engineering and Breaching Corps. 'He said he doesn't remember Karde from the Corps, though. Was Karde even there, or did he just know someone?' She sighed internally. 'Either way, there's definitely more to this guy than just a simple scavenger.'

"Hey, we're approaching Stary. Get ready for anything," Elusive called from his position in the Ural's driver seat. Twilight shook herself out of her almost meditative state and prepared her equipment. The ponies began to check their weapons, making ammo counts and flicking their safeties off. They were more than ready.

Suka: Russian swear for Female Dog (you know what that is…)  
Note: Gauss rifle is only found in the Namalsk map for DayZ, at Object All. (Or if you've ever heard of it, the Namalsk Crisis modification, which has a warfare map, embedded that gives the Gauss rifle as one of the weapons. Its official name is the ERF-7)  
Fun Fact: Karde is based off of my Fallout New Vegas character!  
Another Fun fact, Karde's personality mirrors but doesn't exactly match my personality. Also, I'm super sorry about the lengthy upload times, Synthetic has been swamped with AP World essays and the like. THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD!  
-Snipes  
P.S, if enough people ask me to, I'll design a pony around Synthetic. (Oh Faust save us all…)  
PonyZ copyright TheGreatSnipe and SyntheticZeroes as of December 12th, 2012  
my little pony Copyright Hannah-Barbara  
On a Cross and Arrow characters and related Copyright Connor Cogwork


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